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CHRISTA NUNES, Ph.D.Associate Director of Research and Care

Christa recently returned to The Gorilla Foundation after a multi-year hiatus (taking care of her family) to help The Gorilla Foundation advance its plans in both gorilla care and research — which supports great ape conservation and education. She has a combination of management, care, teaching and interspecies communication research experience (working directly with gorillas Koko and Ndume) .

Prior to first joining The Gorilla Foundation, Christa was a biomedical engineer, conducting space-based research and development projects, and a guest science instructor at the University of California, SF, and at Thurgood Marshall High School in SF. After traveling to Africa and visiting the Mountain Gorillas, Christa had an epiphany and decided to apply her technical and interpersonal skills to improving the lives of our fellow great apes.Following a brief initial volunteer stint at The Gorilla Foundation, Christa went on to become one of our most prodigious team members and leaders and one of the gorillas' most beloved caregivers.